'Total Divas' Season 5 premiere recap: Kiss off

Paige awkwardly tries to play mediator between Nikki Bella and Dolph Ziggler.

Let’s get it out of the way: It’s a swing and a miss for Dolph Ziggler, who went for broke trying to win back Nikki Bella in last season’s “Total Divas” finale. He gets a slap in the face to kick off E!’s Season 5 premiere … not that it stops him from absolutely shredding Nikki’s relationship with John Cena every chance he gets. Nikki takes it all in stride, but Paige — whose own unwanted engagement creeps ever closer — takes it upon herself to play mediator. That gets nowhere, but Cena, to Nikki’s great surprise and disappointment, isn’t all that upset about Zig Man’s advances, and even gives Nikki the option to back out of their relationship if she finds Dolph’s offer too good to pass up. To be continued …

While the rest of the crew jet-sets around the globe, Daniel Bryan is going stir-crazy waiting to get cleared to return to the ring, and he isn’t entirely on board with the idea of becoming wife Brie Bella’s full-time business partner as an alternative. So Brie, being met with increasing resistance, has to settle in and wait for the final word on whether or not Bryan gets the green light before attempting to maneuver him into a post-WWE life. (In other injury-related news, Natalya is fretting over the delicate surgery husband Tyson Kidd needs, but that plot thread remains unresolved this week.)

Following WWE’s tour of Japan, Paige’s own relationship troubles come to a head when she’s finally forced to admit to her fiancé, Kevin Skaff, that she doesn’t want to be engaged. Much to her relief, Kevin gives her a pass after she reveals she said “yes” because she was afraid to lose him. That was close.